Chap-6[Scar]

"What is wrong with her, seriously?" Reign muttered, storming out of the palace. He cursed Adeline under his breath, his mind racing as his feet carried him aimlessly. He didn't even know where he was headed—his body just moving toward some unspoken destination. As he walked, his gaze fell to the small, bruised wound on his palm—one he'd inflicted on himself. The bleeding had stopped long ago, but the pain still lingered. A brief smile tugged at his lips as he imagined how Cyrus would react if he saw the small bruise.

His hurried pace eventually faltered, bringing him back to the spot where he had left Cyrus earlier, the place where he'd promised to return quickly. But when Reign looked around, his heart sank. Cyrus was nowhere to be found. A wave of panic surged through him, his pulse quickening. He had run away… again.

"It's all my fault", Reign mumbled to himself as he started to beat himself up, worrying all out about Cyrus's situation. "Where does he go like this every single time. Is he trying to show off that he knows magic?", His frustration wasn't truly with Cyrus—it was with himself. He had hurt him again, and the guilt stung more sharply than anything

.......

Reign sank into the chair near the large open window, the cool night air brushing against his face as the moonlight bathed the room in a soft, silver glow. He had changed into fresh clothes, but his mind was still tangled in the mess of his thoughts. He stared up at the starry sky, the soft curls of his hair falling across his forehead, waving gently in the breeze.

"How am I supposed to solve this puzzle.", Reign whispered out, breaking the heavy silence in the room. Reign took a deep breath, trying to think through the confusion that clouded his mind. It felt as if every choice he made would inevitably lead him into a deeper, more dangerous situation. He could end things with Adeline, but his own father, would never allow it.

He never wanted to put his and Cyrus's relationship on a thin ice, never. "This is all my fault," he muttered bitterly. "I should never have agreed to this cursed marriage and the inheritance that came with it." His voice trembled with frustration, anger burning through him—at the world, but most of all, at himself.

"Father..." Reign scoffed, the word leaving his lips as a mix of contempt and resentment. His gaze dropped to his clenched fists before he lifted his eyes again, the memories crashing into him like a tidal wave.

"Father, can I?", came out the voice of a very young Reign as he stands at the entrance of the duke's office looking as cold as ever. His small hands clenching at the either sides of his dress pants. The duke looked up from his papers to Reign standing there, putting down the pen he held, "Get in.", he voiced out in a cold tone.

"I heard you skipped your classes yesterday, is that true?", Duke Preston said out in a rough tone like gravel scraping against stone as he scanned the look of his son standing in front of his desk with his head hanged low.

"Yes, father.", Reing said in a low, timid way, his heart burning in nervousness.

"May I know why?", Duke Preston said with an even rougher tone, making Reign tremble with fear. "I wasn't feeling the best, father.", Reign said as he gripped the either side of his pants to control him from trembling so much, he knew he was in trouble.

The Duke's eyes narrowed. "Fever?" he asked dismissively, as though he had no concern for his son's health.

"No, father.", Reign said as he gulped, not letting the serious nervousness slip out. "Then what?", Duke Preston said out loud, making Reign flinch from the sudden aggression shift. "I had headaches." , Reign said in a barely audible way due to how scared he was.

The Duke stood from his chair, his imposing figure towering over the young boy. "Just that?" he growled. "I won't tolerate you slacking off, Reign. You're going to be the heir to this duchy—act like it!" Each word felt like a lash across Reign's skin, and he instinctively took a step back, his fear palpable.

The duke's voice grew louder. "Get that through your head. Do you understand me?"

Reign was scared, so scared. He wanted to run to his mother every time this happened, but she didn't care about him either. "I understand, father.", Reign said as he backed away a bit scared, he would get hit. "Get the hell out of here then. And I better not hear you skipping your lectures ever again. This is your last warning, Reign.", Duke Preston said as he turned back around, siting back down on his chair, going back to his work.

Reign walked out of office, closing the door behind him as his tears flowed down like waterfall. What could he do beside that? He was a kid. Reign's sob filled his body, but he didn't let any out loud because he knew the consequences, his father didn't like seeing Reign cry. Not in a concerning manner but rather he thought crying makes a man weak and vulnerable, he didn't want Reign to be one of them.

As he made his way down the empty corridors, his heart ached. Alone. Always alone. His mother never seemed to care, and his father only saw him as a tool, a means to an end. Reign longed for something he could never have—a family that cared. He had envied those who had it

Reign let out a bitter laugh, but it was hollow. His eyes shimmered with unshed tears, though he refused to let any fall. Why should he waste them on people who had never cared for him? People who only saw him as an heir, a legacy to carry, never as a son.

Reign had been all too familiar with this now, he felt like he grew with no parents behind his back.

Reign let out a long sigh leaning back on the chair as he closed his aching eyes, but all he could picture out was that same situation from his childhood. Reign's heart ached as well but he never knew how to shut it like his eyes. All he did was never enough for his father, even now. He is like a puppet for his father, bound by invisible strings. 

"Time reversal sure as hell made the scar feel fresh again," he muttered, trying to lighten the moment with a self-deprecating joke. But deep down, he knew the truth: the scar would never heal. It was too deep, too ingrained in his soul. Reign's breath hitched, he felt as though he was the same little boy again. The same trembling child standing before his father back at the office earlier.

"I wish you were here, Cyrus," he whispered, his voice breaking. "I feel so scared without you.". All he wanted was to hide away in Cyrus's arm, away from all these hassles. He has always been scared, just got better at masking it as he grew up.

.......

To Be Continued. End of Chap-6.